Stony Brook Medicine Expansion Update: Aggressive Growth, Ambitious Goals, Community Support

With a $423 million expansion project kicking off in Fall 2013, Stony Brook Medicine is embarking on a new chapter.

A chapter marked by aggressive growth, record-setting donations, unprecedented community support and facilities that will put Stony Brook on the map in a new way.

The cornerstone of the project is the 240,000-square-foot Medical and Research Translation (MART) building located adjacent to Stony Brook University Hospital, which broke ground on Nov. 13. The MART will build on the existing strengths of Stony Brook University to create a world-class, bench-to-bedside incubator of the best ideas in medicine, and will be a locus for understanding the basis for human disease.

As part of its core mission, the MART will be devoted to cancer research and care, housing the Stony Brook University Cancer Center. This will allow us to double our capacity to care for patients with cancer — making the outstanding and highly specialized physicians, nurses and staff more accessible to residents of our region. In addition, it may give the nearly 40 percent of Suffolk County residents who seek cancer care at hospitals outside the county a reason to remain close to home.

At a projected cost of $194 million, this new building will “further transform us into an internationally recognized hub for medical research, and bring the very best ideas and people in cancer medicine directly to our patients,” said Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President of Health Sciences and Dean, Stony Brook University School of Medicine.

The MART will have three floors dedicated to basic cancer biology, an expanded clinical area, and advanced biomedical imaging and biomedical informatics including a PET/CT scanner. Also included are 12 new classrooms and a 305-seat, acoustically engineered auditorium.

“By housing research, clinical and education under one roof, we are creating a progressive model for 21st century cancer care and developing a rapid process of discovery, clinical application and public knowledge,” said Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, Director of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center. “The new building will invite innovation and collaboration.”

Added Dr. Kaushansky, “Imagine the power of having a world-renowned cancer researcher bumping into a clinical thought leader in medical oncology, sharing the results of her latest research, and asking how that new data can help treat his patients. Or having that medical oncologist ask the cancer research scientist to help him figure out why his patient is not responding to treatment. The MART is designed to foster those conversations, and in doing so, catalyze major advances in understanding the origins of cancer and how to better treat our patients.”

The MART is made possible by New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the State University of New York under the leadership of Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, through a $35 million NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant, and $50 million in support through an historic $150 million gift from Jim and Marilyn Simons. It is scheduled for completion in April 2016.